Saturday, December 10, 2011

Shameful behavior: CSUN President to AMCHA: "Too Bad"‏

Dear AMCHA Initiative Supporters,

Yesterday, Tammi received an email from CSU Northridge President Jolene Koester in response to the AMCHA Initiative's most recent letter urging her to condemn and remove Professor David Klein's anti-Semitic webpages from the CSUN website. President Koester's response to Tammi consisted of two words: "Too bad"! We are appalled by President Koester's response, and believe that it was directed not only to Tammi, but to the entire Jewish community. Below is Tammi's response to President Koester, which she also sent to the CSU and California state leadership.

Sincerely,

Tammi and Leila

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Dear President Koester,

I am shocked and distressed by your recent reply to me in response to a letter I co-authored, urging you to address an egregious case of anti-Jewish bigotry on your campus. Our letter asked you to condemn and remove Professor David Klein's anti-Semitic and highly offensive webpages from the CSUN server. In your response, you callously wrote: "Too bad." (See below).

As you know, our letter was sent to you under the aegis of the AMCHA Initiative, an organization representing more than 5,000 members and supporters of the California Jewish community, who are deeply concerned for the safety and well-being of Jewish students on California campuses. In that regard, your response is not only dismissive and disrespectful of me, but of a large segment of the Jewish community as well.

Moreover, your lack of sensitivity to our serious concerns about anti-Semitism and the welfare of Jewish students on your campus is appalling.

I and many members of the Jewish community consider it highly inappropriate for the leader of a major public university to behave in this way.

It is indeed "too bad."


Sincerely,

Tammi Rossman-Benjamin
Co-founder the AMCHA Initiative
Lecturer University of California, Santa Cruz



CC: Chancellor Charles Reed
Board of Trustees
California Governor Jerry Brown
California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom
California Speaker of the Assembly John A. Perez
California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson
Congressman Brad Sherman
California State Senator Alex Padilla
California State Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes
Los Angeles Mayor - Antonio Villaraigosa
Los Angeles City Council President

BCC: For wide circulation

______________________________________________________________________________

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Koester, Jolene"
Date: December 8, 2011 10:31:35 AM PST
To: Tammi Benjamin
Subject: Re: responding to your letter about anti-Semitic webpages on the CSUN server

Too bad.
Jk

Sent from my iPad

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